Nature Space newsletter 1
Contents
1. Island It is free to join Nature Space and to add your own data to the on line database To find out more about the website and about the many com munity groups working in your region visit www naturespace org nz or email us info naturespace org nz Young plants set outdoors to harden off Photo Jeremy Rolfe parties says Tim NATURE SPACE NEWSLETTER ISSUE ONE 2013 5 NATURE SPACE NEWSLETTER BACKDUNE ENVIRONMENTS THE FOCUS OF A THREE YEAR RESEARCH AND ENGAGEMENT PROJECT To date dune restoration work in New Zealand has focused primarily on resto ration of native sandbinders on the most seaward dune face which are critical to maintaining natural dune form and func tion However many community groups are now moving into the restoration of indigenous biodiversity in backdune areas and facing considerable challenges These areas are very complex due to greater spe cies and community diversity a range of sub environments and serious problems with invasive exotic vegetation graz ing animal pests and human pressures ISSUE ONE Whilst the key to planting coastal sand dunes is matching species to appropriate zones identifying these zones can be very challenging The limited information we have tells us that proximity to the coast and shelter are key factors in influencing survival and growth rates The Dune Restoration Trust of New Zealand Dunes Trust is into Year Two of a three year Ministry for2. have a photo that you think highlights ecological restoration in action please send it to info naturespace org nz and it may be selected for featuring in the next newsletter to focus on species specific pest animal or plant control rather focusing on the whole suite of pest species They also have higher neighbourhood cohesiveness as their project aim than other groups They do however show the same scores for size of project area and numbers of active sroup membership Photo points are used significantly higher as a monitoring technique among Nature Space groups 73 vs 29 All of these groups have a group website other than Nature Space compared to only 65 of the other groups This latter point may explain the greater use of photo points as they have a means to store and share them This does not however mean that their communication with other groups is mostly electronic in fact Nature Space groups meet face to face with other groups 34 more often A higher proportion of Nature Space groups have contact with Auckland Coun cil s Local Parks section than the remain der of the groups 55 vs 38 and all have more than one section of Council as a point of contact compared to only 70 of other groups A reliance on various funding grants 100 vs 78 as the main source of rev enue to undertake their work sets Nature Space groups apart from the remainder of the groups Nature Space groups have a higher proportio
3. how to fly the chicks often end up on the ground where they are at risk from dogs or cats Myfanwy Emeny says this part of the Town Belt is being restored as part of the Town Belt Management Plan which includes a replanting programme Were working with community sroups to replant the area in native trees which will eventually provide nesting places for kaka when the forest matures Kaka like to nest in natural cavities in old trees with foliage cover to protect them as they approach and leave the nest There s no original native forest with such cavities left in Wellington so the kaka are nesting in other big trees We may also consider installing some nest boxes to help them Mischa McCauley and the Kiwi chick was having a health check as part of the Moehau kiwi project Photo Steve Carson TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES lt 2 ve flde tl o 4 af gt 9 4 he y F LIZARD STRATEGY FOR WELLINGTON By Richard Romijn Greater Wellington Regional Council Email Richard romjin gw govt nz The Wellington Regional Lizard Net work WRLN has just released its Lizard strategy for the Wellington region 2012 20 This regional lizard strategy outlines a coordinated approach to ensure the conservation and restoration of lizard communities in the Wellington region WRIN is a group of conservation man agers and lizard specialists from a va riety o
4. E New Zealand The Shakespear home stead represents built heritage of one of the founding farming families of Auck land The entire Shakespear peninsula is steeped in Maori cultural heritage values especially Okoromai Bay and Te Haruhi Bay from whence much of the early Maori trading occurred The mana whenua of Shakespear are Ngati Whatua with tribal links to Te Kawerau Ngati Rongo Ngati Poataniwha Ngati Tai and Ngati Kahu In its second year of operation no species have as yet been transloacted into the open sanctuary However bell bird red crowned parakeet and brown teal have naturally colonised It is ex pected that other threatened species will self introduce from the adjacent wildlife reserves of Tawharanui Tiritiri Matangi Motuihe and Rangitoto As the biodiversity re establishes It is expected that residents on the Whangaparaoa may again experi ence the dawn chorus provided by our unique birds 2013 Above Shakespear Regional Park SEN SSS ACh er Wael ate Te Haruhi Bay Native pigeon Kereru All photos Mark Seabrook Davison Sa a CA Af Me gt Ff he amp wus z A NATIONAL CONFERENCE CONSERVATION INCORPORATED WHAT S AHEAD FOR COMMUNITY BASED CONSERVATION IN NEW ZEALAND Dunedin 17 18 October 2 013 The Yellow eyed Penguin Trust is celebrating its twenty fifth anniversary this year by hosting a na tional conference for citizen based conservation VWOILAYsSUO gt organi
5. GE UP TO DATE It is import to keep your group infor mation up to date so people are able to contact you about your project If you are unsure how to do anything or are having issues doing something on Nature Space let us know and we will do our best to help you out Also if your sroup contact details change please let the Nature Space team know at info naturespace org nz so we can stay in touch with you This issue of the Nature Space newsletter is sponsored by Auckland Council Auckland Council Te Kaunihera o Tamaki Makaurau _ et aay gt ie Te he so Y k Vhia li p Vo 4 H A Working bee morning tea break lower Kaiwharawhara valley 2012 Photo Peter Reimann Register for Nature Space to receive this national newsletter www naturespace org nz NATURE SPACE NEWSLETTER ISSUE ONE 2013 7
6. ISSUE ONE gt 2013 Newsletter IN THIS ISSUE NATURE SPACE Ecological Restoration in Aotearoa NATURE SPACE NEWSLETTER eC A KAKA NEST FOUND IN PRINCE OF WALES PARK Further proof that native birdlife in Wellington City is increasing has been confirmed by the discovery of a kaka nest with chicks in the southern Town Belt on the edge of Prince of Wales Park in Mount Cook If the chicks survive these will be the first kaka known to have bred successfully outside of Zealandia where birds were released into the wild in 2002 Kaka were previously considered to have been extinct in Wellington since early last century Wellington City Council s Manager of Community Engagement and Reserves Myfanwy Emeny says that coincidental ly the nest is close to a little stream where there is a population of banded kokopu a species of native fish So we have two special native species living and breeding in the heart of our city it s a wonderful example of how peo ple and nature can coexist Matu Booth who runs a local commu nity restoration programme and discov ered the kaka nest says the birds are part of a loose flock of kaka that has taken up residence the southern Town Belt Td been seeing the two kaka around the area where I live for at least a year We know they re from Zealandia because they are banded and the database of re corded birds shows they hadn t been seen there since they were juve
7. RY A RESTORATION PROJECT IN THE HEART OF SUBURBIA By Mark Seabrook Davison Auckland Council Email mark seabrook davison aucklandcouncil govt nz The establishment of Shakespear Open Sanctuary has achieved the goal of creating a wildlife reserve within the urban boundary of Auckland city The old conservative attitude of shutting away threatened species in reserves closed to the public has been replaced with an enlightened attitude to involve the public in their restoration Shakespear Park has been a popular place for Aucklanders to enjoy rec reational activities such as swimming walking picnicking and fishing In 2011 a 1 7 kilometre pest proof fence was completed which enclosed 500 hectares of the Whangaparaoa pen insula creating the Shakespear Open Sanctuary A comprehensive exotic pest eradication programme was instigated which successfully removed all unwant ed animal pests The restoration of the biodiversity of Shakespear Park is a joint project be tween the Shakespear Open Sanctuary Society Incorporated SOSSI Auck land Council and the New Zealand De fence Force The majority of the remain ing indigenous vegetation is on the old Defence Armaments Depot DAD land which is incorporated into the open sanctuary Shakespear Park incorporates many heritage assets of the Auckland area The military heritage features of the DAD land has some of the most intact armament installations remaining in ISSUE ON
8. but it suits this site Photo M Bergin Demonstration sites have been set up throughout the country In the western Waikato region sites include the Marokopa Aotea and Ruapuke beaches and represent different coastal settings and degrees of exposure Unlike most beaches along the east coast of the upper North Island west coast beaches are highly dynamic where persistent and often strong onshore westerly winds and large volumes of sand have a significant effect on the dune morphology and coastal ecology Photo S Stephens The need for several levels of monitoring has been identified by Coastcare groups and management agency staff These include a method of determining baseline dune profile data and using belt transects guidelines for comparing management techniques monitoring the establishment of rare local native species monitoring the impact and effectiveness of restoration activities on natural regeneration Photo Greater Wellington Maintenance of plantings is a key factor in success A wide range of backdune native species have been established at Caroline Bay by the Timaru District Council over the past three years An excellent maintenance programme particularly for weed control has seen very high survival rates and growth of native species Restored backdunes areas are now being used by penguins Photo M Bergin For more information see www dunestrust org nz 2013 COMMON ISSUES ANSWERED KEEPING YOUR PA
9. f groups and organisations who aim to identify priorities for and lead lizard conservation throughout the Wellington region The group promotes lizard conservation and provides advice and training to those involved in lizard conservation The group is primarily an advisory group but will actively identify work that needs to be done promote this work and train and facilitate the implementation of it The Lizard strategy for the Wel lington region 2012 20 can be found at the document page of the Wellington Regional Lizard Network on Nature Space WEBSITE UPDATE NEW FEATURES New website manual A new version of the website manual is now available New additions to the manual include explanation of the News pages which can be created to tell people about news happening at your sroup step by step instructions on how to create and edit pages how to delete pages and how to change your pass word and admission email address We hope these additions will be useful in maintaining your pages ISSUE ONE 2013 Posters for groups The Nature Space team has created Na ture Space branded posters that your sroup can use to advertise your group your group s planting days and your sroup s other actives These posters can be accessed by going to the resource centre then clicking Nature Space Re sources and then click on the link to promotional materials NATURE SPACE NEWSLETTER SUCCESS STORY SHAKESPEAR OPEN SANCTUA
10. mber of visitors per region for the last quarter Nov Jan Region Auckland Wellington Canterbury Waikato Hawke s Bay Manawatu Wanganul Bay of Plenty Southland Otago Northland Nelson Marlborough Taranaki Total Plants planted 981 411 Possums killed 7 668 Stoats killed 2 404 Visits 998 943 176 110 65 50 27 26 24 a 13 7 7 2 467 COMMUNITY GROUP SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS HOW NATURE SPACE USERS DIFFER FROM THE REST By Malcolm Harrison Auckland Council Biosecurity Team Email malcolm harrison aucklandcouncil govt nz A survey was undertaken in mid 2012 of all community groups that Auckland Council s Biosecurity team works with 41 sroups 60 returned the survey and the results showed that groups were roughly split between pest animal and plant con trol as their core activity Where pest plant control was undertaken groups were actively planting native species as replacement plants The main requests for training related to pest plant identification pest animal control and native plant identification which reflects these group activities The main challenges facing these groups were securing long term funding and recruit ing more volunteers to their projects 29 of the groups surveyed use Nature Space When we look at the responses of these groups and compare them to those that do not use Nature Space there are some marked differences The Naturespace groups tend not PHOTOS If you
11. n attendance at Auckland Coun cil run workshops 55 vs 38 In summary groups that use Nature Space appear to be more connected to their fellow groups meeting them more often and are more likely to attend Coun cil s training workshops They are also al most certainly taking advantage of coun cil funding schemes and have a higher proportion of contacts within Council CONSERVATION VOLUNTEERS REACH ONE MILLION MILESTONE Conservation volunteers across New Zealand have reached new heights by planting more than 1 million plants throughout the country Volunteers reporting their results on the Nature Space website have plant ed more than one million plants along with eradicating over nine thousand possums and stoats It s an excellent milestone for Na ture Space volunteers to chalk up over 1 million plants been planted says DOC s Nature Space Coordinator Tim Bailey Nature Space was set up to the give conservation volunteer groups and individuals a place to promote their ef forts and connect with other interested Many groups manage their own pages adding data photos events and news making it a perfect place to keep up with volunteer conservation in their local area and find out what is happen ing nationwide Nature Space is an independent website supported by the Department of Conservation World Wildlife Fund Queen Elizabeth II National Trust and local government agencies of the North
12. niles The male kaka is three years old and the female bird is two and in her first breeding season In early October I saw the pregnant female in my garden and then only saw her partner for several weeks In late No vember I saw the two birds together so I started searching for a nest in this part of the Town Belt where there are big old trees says Matu He found the nest when he came across the male kaka feeding the female and then watched her fly up and squeeze into the nest opening to feed her chicks The chicks are now about two months old and if they survive will be the first kaka Continued on page 2 ISSUE ONE 2013 Kaka nest found in Prince of Wales Park Lizard Strategy for Wellington Website update new features Shakespear open sanctuary a restoration project in the heart of suburbia National conference Conservation Incorporated My photo is too large Nature Space statistics Community group survey highlights how Nature Space users differ from the rest Conservation volunteers reach one million milestone Backdune environments the focus of a three year research and engagement project I have created a photo gallery photopoint page but cannot edit it Keeping your page up to date NATURE SPACE NEWSLETTER Kaka Nest Found in Prince of Wales Park Continued from page 1 known to have bred successfully out side of Zealandia As they re still learn ing
13. sations like ours The conference is entitled Conservation Incorporated Its aim is to strengthen and diversify the community base for biodiversity conservation in New Zealand We will convene Conservation Incorporated in Dunedin on 17 18 October 2013 The conference will be preceded on 16 October by applied workshops on fundraising leadership and predator management Conservation Incorporated will be a strong ly applied conference from which participants will leave better prepared for the future and more aware of their place in the broader conservation landscape We are calling for papers right now See our website for details about conference themes workshops events and how to tell us what youd like to present http yellow eyedpenguin org nz wordpress conservationinc We would value your insights See you in Dunedin COMMON ISSUES ANSWERED Seep F i i i F Tce eg ie ost PUR EA Z ss i a p nie F Restoration project at west end of Silverstream Reserve Waimakariri District Canterbury Photo David Birch NATURE SPACE NEWSLETTER ISSUE ONE 2013 NATURE SPACE STATISTICS Number of groups per region Region Auckland Bay of Plenty Canterbury Chatham Islands Gisborne Hawke s Bay Manawatu Wanganul Marlborough Nationwide Nelson Northland Otago Southland Taranaki Tasman Waikato Wellington West Coast Total Groups 34 eS Onl OQ tox iS ON Ilw u Gor N Ga IO ON N 144 Nu
14. the Environ ment s Community Environment Fund project that sets out to enhance the capac ity of local communities councils and the Department of Conservation to undertake restoration of indigenous biodiversity in coastal backdune environments The project involves extensive review of existing knowledge setting up dem onstration areas and monitoring sites undertaking field based workshops and providing practical guidelines for back dune restoration We are working in eight regions from Northland to Southland at over 50 coastal sites This nationwide coverage will ensure we deal with a wide range of dune environments and climatic settings The variation between backdune environments in New Zealand is immense As the Dunes Trust CEF Team are finding out each site has its own unique qualities and challenges Here at Petone Beach Wellington where the natural dune system is constricted by development roadside plantings of backdune species are providing seed sources for semi stable dunes within metres of the seaward side of the sea wall Photo M Bergin Weeds are the number one issue at many back dune sites The cost and effort of control and removal seems endless So true to kiwi nature locals are coming up with innovative and site specific ways to deal with weeds that reduces cost and effort At Proctors Beach in Northland on site compost bins have been built It may not work everywhere or for every weed
Download Pdf Manuals
Related Search